Red Sox Journal: Talks on Ellsbury deal have waned

Boston’s stance on trading Jacoby Ellsbury remains the same as it was at the winter meetings, when general manager Ben Cherington said he expected the center fielder to be a key part of the 2013 team.

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By
TIM BRITTON
Posted Dec. 19, 2012 @ 6:04 pm

BOSTON — Boston’s stance on trading Jacoby Ellsbury remains the same as it was at the winter meetings, when general manager Ben Cherington said he expected the center fielder to be a key part of the 2013 team.

“Nothing’s changed on that,” Cherington said when asked about Ellsbury on Wednesday.

At this point in the offseason, there don’t appear to be many suitors who make sense for Ellsbury. The Nationals, Braves, Phillies, Reds and Giants have all filled their gaps in center field, either through trade or free agency. The Rangers would seem to be the only team in a position to go after Ellsbury.

Texas missed out on both Zack Greinke and Josh Hamilton, and Arizona is less poised to move Justin Upton than it was earlier this winter.

Michael Bourn remains on the free-agent market.

The addition of Shane Victorino, who has plenty of center-field experience, has made the idea of trading Ellsbury a bit more palatable. If the Red Sox were to move Ellsbury, they could shift Victorino from right field to center and sign another corner outfielder, such as Cody Ross.

Cherington said that while the Red Sox “have not closed the door by any means” on Ross, the two sides have not had a recent conversation.

Deal still on hold

The Red Sox introduced another free-agent acquisition on Wednesday; once again, it wasn’t Mike Napoli.

Napoli still isn’t an official member of the 2013 Red Sox as his contract negotiations with Boston have dragged out over the last two weeks. Napoli and the Sox initially agreed to terms on Dec. 3, but something — most likely an issue emerging from Napoli's physical — has stalled an official introduction.

“Nothing to report,” Cherington said when the team introduced pitcher Ryan Dempster. “We’re still working on a number of fronts and we're hopeful we can continue to add to the team. Until there’s something real to report, I can’t comment on it.”

Cherington did say that he’s “had some more dialogue” with Napoli and his agent, Brian Grieper.

“Until it’s done it’s not done,” Cherington said. “I wouldn’t classify it as one way or another. We’ll have to see what happens. It’s something that we're still trying to improve the team and hopefully we can do that.”

Cherington did not comment on a report from Sports Illustrated that the team was trying to reduce its offer to Napoli from three years to two years.

Dempster, who played with Napoli for the last two months of last season in Texas, said he’d be an excellent addition.

“Mike’s a tremendous teammate,” Dempster said. “He brings great energy, and that's just inside the clubhouse, aside from what he can do with his bat and behind the plate or at first base. He was one of the best teammates I’ve had in the two months I had him in Texas, and hopefully I look forward to getting the chance to play with him here. It’d be awesome.”

Cherington didn’t mention Drew by name, but he did say a prospective shortstop would be coming to Boston soon.

“We’re hopeful we’ve added some depth there, too,” Cherington said. “There are areas of the team at the beginning of the offseason I know I said were clearly holes to fill, and then other things that we were going to try be a little bit more opportunistic on. We’ve done a little bit of both so far.”

The addition of Drew would obviously greatly influence Jose Iglesias, the presumed starter at short entering the offseason. Cherington said on Wednesday that he would like Iglesias to be playing every day, and that likely means he'll be headed to Pawtucket on Opening Day for the third straight year.